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MD - Chapter 33: Talk to Haley and Alex
🕑 Added 2025-01-10 17:47:02 +0000 UTC"So, you agree to go out with Veronica just to avoid rejecting her in front of everyone? And now you want to break up with her because you can't stand her and she takes up your free time for video games?" Haley asked, sitting on the edge of her bed and looking at Andrew, who was sitting beside her.
After leaving Pip's house, Andrew went to his aunt and uncle's home for this important conversation with his cousin, Haley. He needed advice on how to break up with Veronica discreetly.
"Exactly," Andrew said, nodding.
Haley stared at him silently for a few seconds before she couldn’t hold it in any longer and burst into uncontrollable laughter.
"It's not funny..." Andrew said, slightly indignant. For him, there was nothing amusing about the endless phone calls with Veronica or the dates.
"I should've guessed you said yes because of that..." Haley said, still laughing.
"I worried for nothing..." she added under her breath, though Andrew heard her.
"Worried about what?" Andrew asked.
"E-Eh? Oh, nothing. Why don’t you just end the relationship? It's been two weeks; it wouldn’t seem strange if you did," Haley said quickly, stopping her laughter and changing the subject.
"Yeah, I know… but I don’t want to be the one to end it, you know? I already went out of my way to minimize Veronica’s emotional damage by not rejecting her in front of everyone. If I’m the one to break up with her, she’ll still be sad and her ego will take a hit," Andrew explained.
To him, it would end up being similar to rejecting her publicly, though less extreme.
"Mm, sometimes I forget how mature you are," Haley said, looking at Andrew with a small smile.
"Mature? Please. That’s not maturity. That’s just fear of taking responsibility for other people’s feelings," Alex said from her bed, looking up from her book.
"Shut up, Alex. You’re the last person who should talk about other people’s feelings. Andrew is trying to be considerate," Haley snapped, glaring at her with a frown, clearly annoyed by her interruption.
"Considerate? Agreeing to date someone just to avoid hurting their feelings in front of everyone, then not wanting to be the one to break up because that might hurt them too… Yeah, super considerate," Alex said sarcastically.
"The best way to handle this is to treat her like an adult. Tell her the truth, even if it’s uncomfortable. It’s not your job to carry the weight of her emotions," Alex added, adjusting her glasses.
"Mind your own business," Haley growled, grabbing a pillow and hurling it forcefully at Alex, who failed to react in time and took the hit square in the face.
"Don’t throw pillows at people’s faces!" Alex exclaimed indignantly, tossing the pillow back awkwardly.
Haley dodged the pillow easily, but it ended up hitting Andrew, who was too lost in thought to notice what was happening.
"Ha! Your strength is pathetic. Instead of studying so much, you should work on your coordination," Haley said mockingly, crossing her arms with a smug smile.
"Maybe Alex is right," Andrew said, setting the pillow aside.
Haley turned to him with wide eyes. "Seriously? Alex's advice on girlfriends and boyfriends?" she asked, unable to believe what she was hearing.
Alex, on the other hand, smiled smugly. "I knew someone in this family would eventually recognize my wisdom. Though, of course, not everyone is smart enough to do so," she added, glancing pointedly at Haley with the last remark.
"No! You’re not doing that, Andrew," Haley suddenly said, placing her hands on Andrew’s cheeks and forcing him to look her directly in the eyes.
"I’m not? Why not? It seems like a reasonable solution," Andrew said, blinking.
He thought about what Pippa had told him earlier that day—that he was kind to everyone. She had meant it as a compliment, but taking it to an extreme might be counterproductive.
Could it be that always trying to avoid hurting others was causing more problems than it solved?
Agreeing to go out with Veronica just to avoid rejecting her in front of everyone, enduring long conversations and dates that took away time for his own interests... All because he wanted to be considerate or kind.
In the end, the one most negatively affected was himself.
"I can’t always be kind to everyone," Andrew said, looking at Haley, who was still gripping his cheeks tightly.
"Well, it seems he’s finally understanding that you can’t save the world by being the knight in shining armor 24/7. Welcome to the realistic side of life, cousin," Alex said in a mildly sarcastic tone.
"Shut up, Alex!" Haley shot back, glaring daggers at her. She wasn’t about to let Andrew follow Alex’s advice. He came to her for help, not Alex, and she wanted to be the one he thanked.
"Andrew came to me for advice, not you," Haley added, letting go of Andrew, who sighed in relief as his cheeks were finally free.
"So, what’s your advice?" Andrew asked.
"You don’t have to break up with Veronica directly. What you need to do is... make her realize you’re not as interested as she thinks. That way, she’ll decide to end the relationship herself," Haley replied with a confident smile.
"And how exactly am I supposed to do that?" Andrew asked.
"It’s simple. First, respond to her messages, but without much enthusiasm. Be short, but not rude. Reply with things like 'okay,' 'sure,' or 'alright.' Nothing more. If she wants to call you, make excuses to avoid it. And for every three dates, cancel two or one, saying you’re busy, tired from training, or something like that," Haley explained, raising a finger as if giving a lecture.
"That sounds a little... cruel," Andrew commented, tilting his head.
“It’s not,” Haley insisted. “You’re not being mean to her; you’re just showing that you’re not as interested. Trust me, she’ll realize soon enough that it doesn’t make sense to stay with you if you’re not showing the same enthusiasm.”
“And what if she takes it the wrong way anyway?” Andrew asked, still hesitant.
Haley placed a hand on his shoulder. “She won’t. Veronica’s smart. Sure, she might feel a little disappointed, but trust me, it’s better than going down the direct breakup route, like Alex suggests.”
“Why would breaking up directly be worse?” Andrew asked.
“If you break up directly, you’ll have to talk to her face-to-face. That’s inevitable. And, Andrew, in that conversation, she’s going to ask you why you’re leaving her. At that moment, there are a lot of ways things could go wrong,” Haley explained, and Andrew saw her point.
In that talk, he might accidentally say something clumsy that would make her realize he agreed to date her just to avoid rejecting her in front of everyone. If that happened, it would be the worst-case scenario, as Veronica would figure out that the relationship started out of pity or social pressure.
On the other hand, if he followed Haley’s plan, Veronica would naturally realize that things weren’t working and decide to end it herself. Plus, she wouldn’t feel humiliated or deceived.
“Alright, I’ll do it,” Andrew said, nodding.
“Great. In ten days, she’ll break up with you, and you’ll be back to your routine,” Haley said with a smile.
“Isn’t she your friend? You shouldn’t be happy about this,” Alex chimed in snidely, once again butting into the conversation.
Haley shot her a murderous glare but said nothing.
‘Time to leave,’ Andrew thought, glancing at the time on his phone.
Andrew said goodbye to his cousins and the rest of the family. It was late, and he needed to get home. Haley walked him to the door.
“Oh, one more thing,” Haley said, grabbing Andrew’s wrist just as he was about to leave.
“What?”
Haley hesitated for a moment, biting her lip slightly before speaking. “Well... if you’re really going to follow my plan, there’s something I forgot to mention.”
“What is it?” Andrew asked.
“You should... cut back on kisses and displays of affection with Veronica,” Haley said, crossing her arms. “No holding hands, no spontaneous kisses. You know, so she starts noticing that things are changing and picks up on the signs. It’s part of the process.”
“Really? Won’t it cause more trouble if it’s that obvious?” Andrew asked.
Haley knew that Veronica had already kissed Andrew, who, in his role as her boyfriend, had felt obligated to kiss her or hold her hand. Otherwise, his lie might unravel, and Veronica might even assume he was gay. To avoid that, Andrew had decided to kiss her and hold her hand.
“If you keep acting like the perfect boyfriend, she’ll never realize something’s wrong. Besides, it’s not like you’re pretending—you’re just not interested in her that way, right?” Haley said.
“Mm, makes sense. Alright, I’ll do it,” Andrew nodded, finally saying goodbye to Haley and heading home.
'He’s gone...' Haley thought as she closed the door, letting out a heavy sigh. She headed back to her room, only to find Alex watching her with a faint, teasing smile.
“What?” Haley asked, her tone sharp and impatient, a stark contrast to how she’d spoken to Andrew earlier.
“I have to admit, I’m genuinely surprised,” Alex remarked, closing her book with a deliberate gesture.
“I thought that, with how annoyed you’ve been about Andrew’s relationship, you would’ve supported the advice for him to break up with Veronica directly,” she added with a sly smile.
She and their mom had noticed Haley’s mood shift ever since Andrew got a "girlfriend," though Haley wasn’t exactly known for being in the best mood to begin with.
Haley frowned, clearly confused and visibly irritated. “What are you implying? Why would you say that? What’s wrong with my plan?”
“Nothing, technically. Except that it’s way longer and more dramatic than necessary. If you’d just told him to break up with Veronica, this whole thing would be resolved by tomorrow. Don’t get me wrong, I just thought you’d want this relationship to end as quickly as possible,” Alex explained.
“Well, you thought wrong,” Haley said, sitting on her bed, signaling she was done with the conversation. But Alex wasn’t. Her goal was to get under her sister’s skin.
“I thought you were upset because Andrew got a girlfriend, and you seemed so happy when he told you it was a fake relationship,” Alex said.
“That has nothing to do with it. All I want is to help Andrew. He asked me for help because he doesn’t want to hurt Veronica. That’s why I suggested a more subtle, less aggressive approach,” Haley explained, trying to keep her composure.
“So, it has nothing to do with Andrew being in a relationship and you… well, you know, being jealous,” Alex said, tilting her head slightly as she scrutinized Haley.
“I am not jealous! That’s ridiculous! We’re cousins!” Haley exclaimed indignantly, a blush quickly spreading across her cheeks.
“Yes... cousins... Andrew is adopted and joined the family when you were five, Haley. You don’t even share blood or any formal relation. He’s more like a childhood friend,” Alex said with an amused smile, clearly enjoying how much she was irritating Haley.
“That has nothing to do with it!” Haley shot back quickly, her blush deepening as she pointed a finger at Alex.
“Andrew is like my older brother, okay? I’ve known him since we were kids, and I’ve always seen him that way. So, stop making things up,” she added, storming out of the room. She knew she couldn’t win this argument, and the last thing she wanted was to give any further explanations.
Alex stayed on the bed, watching Haley leave with a satisfied smile on her face.
Comments
Alkole
As much as I like haley I still need the mc to get with pippa
Cat Tip
❤️
